H. G. Wells
Union of Britain |party= Congregationists |events= }}Herbert George Wells, referred to by his pen name as H. G. Wells, is an English syndicalist author best known for his work in the scientific romance genre. Wells has long been outspoken with his pacifist views, being an activist for the Congregationist party. History Early life Herbert George Wells was born as the fourth and last child of Joseph Wells and Sarah Neal, with the family being of the impoverished lower middle class. A defining incident of young Wells’ life was an accident he had in 1874, which left him bedridden with a broken leg. To pass the time he started reading books from the local library, brought to him by his father. He soon became devoted to the other worlds and lives to which books gave him access; they also stimulated his desire to write. In 1877, his father, Joseph Wells, fractured his thigh. The accident effectively meant that the family was no longer able to support themselves financially, they instead sought to place their sons as apprentices in various occupations. From 1880 to 1883, Wells had an unhappy apprenticeship as a draper in a Drapery Emporium. His experiences were later used as inspiration for some of his novel material (The Wheels of Chance and Kipps) which delve into the life of a draper's apprentice as well as providing a critique of the world's distribution of wealth, helping to form Well’s socialist views early on. Well’s mother worked as a lady's maid at a country house in Sussex. As Well’s personal troubles increased as he subsequently failed as a draper and also, later, as a chemist's assistant. After each failure, he would arrive at the country house and stay there until a fresh start could be arranged for him. Fortunately, the country house had a magnificent library in which he immersed himself, reading many classic works, including Plato's Republic, and More's Utopia. This would be the beginning of H. G. Wells' venture into literature. Teaching & Novel career In October 1879, Wells' mother managed to arrange for him to join the National School in Somerset as a pupil-teacher. In December that year, however, he was dismissed for irregularities in his qualifications and Wells was returned to the country house. After a short apprenticeship at a chemist, Wells managed to persuade his parents to release him from the apprenticeship, taking an opportunity offered by Midhurst Grammar School to become a pupil-teacher. Well’s good fortune at securing a position at Midhurst Grammar School meant that Wells could continue his self-education in earnest. The following year, Wells won a scholarship to the Royal College of Science in London, studying biology. Wells studied in his new school until 1887. He soon entered the Debating Society of the school. These years mark the beginning of his interest in a possible reformation of society. At first approaching the subject through The Republic by Plato, he soon turned to contemporary ideas of socialism. He was also among the founders of The Science School Journal, a school magazine which allowed him to express his views on literature and society, as well as trying his hand at fiction: he published a short story about time travel called "The Chronic Argonauts.” In 1895, Wells became an overnight literary sensation with the publication of the novel “The Time Machine.” The book was about an English scientist who develops a time travel machine. While entertaining, the work also explored social and scientific topics, with themes of class conflict and socialism. , 1918]] Wells’ began to dedicate fully to being a writer with his first non-fiction bestseller “Anticipations” (1901), it is considered his most explicitly futuristic work. Anticipating what the world would be like in the year 2000, this collection of predictions has proved to be remarkably accurate (moral restrictions declining as men and women seek greater sexual freedom, the rise of major cities, economic globalisation) but it has also been inaccurate (he did not predict the rise of women in the workplace and thought that trains and cars would resulting in the rise of suburbs when in fact the opposite occurred with the Trade Unions Congress (TUC) actively demolishing suburbs and encouraging the depopulation of the countryside). Soon, Wells began to publish science fiction vast quantities, with the most notable being “The War of the Worlds,” a novel about an alien invasion. Revolution & Recent writings Wells ran as a Labour Party candidate for London University in the 1922 and 1923 general elections after the death of his friend W. H. R. Rivers, but at that point his faith in the party was weak or uncertain, and by 1924 he had become a staunch supporter of the independent labour party, and a whole-hearted supporter of the destruction of parliamentary governance, with his support of the revolution being expressed in numerous magazine publications of the time. Socialist messages have been incorporated both before the revolution and after, having always been Well’s goal to educate the masses on the importance of socialist theory in their everyday lives, and to be interested in something grander than themselves. Of the modern political factions in the Union of Britain Well's had tended to lean towards the Congregationalists although he has at times expressed disapproval of their isolationism, arguing that "working closely with our socialist allies will be enough to see the final collapse of capitalism, and the emergence of the World State in our lifetimes". His most consistent political ideal is the World State. He stated that he considers a World State inevitable. He envisioned the state to be a planned society that would advance science, end nationalism, and allow people to progress by merit rather than birth. His latest novel, “The Shape of Things to Come” (1933), depicts a world council of scientists taking over. This includes another Weltkrieg, with cities being destroyed by aerial bombs, and large regions being laid waste to with chemical weapons, some critics have alleged it to be sensationalistic although Wells in 1934 stated that he stands by his prediction in the book that the new war would erupt in 1940 and that the Union of Britain would end up joining the conflict which would in the long term either see the final collapse of capitalism and the emergence of the World State, or the extinction of mankind. In recent years Wells has been laying out plans for a comprehensive educational book, working closely with government intellectuals to gather practical informational that can educate the common British household. It is not yet known what form this book will take, but it is speculated that it could be an entire series of encyclopedias with simple definitions on everything of importance, this idea has no doubt been called "Silly" by most. Personal Life *Wells is good friends with fellow writers Eric Blair, Enid Blyton and C. S. Lewis, with the four having established a publishing house called the “Writer’s Union.” *The “Writer’s Union” is a publishing house created to praise the use of socialist values in literature and encouraged the reading of socialist literature over the Imperialist literature dominated by Winston Churchill, Arthur Conan Doyle, Erich Paul Remark and J. R. R. Tolkien. *Wells does oppose the forcible destruction of Christianity and other religions advocated by his close friends Eric Blair and C. S. Lewis, arguing that "Christianity and other traditional religions will soon fade away with nary a trace. If we work to destroy them, however, their adherents will dig in and their disappearance will take longer and will have been far bloodier". *His book “The World Set Free” (1914) has Radioactive decay play a large role. It is known that the rate of energy released by radioactive decay is too slow to have practical utility, but the total amount released is huge. Wells’ novel revolves around an (unspecified) invention that accelerates the process of radioactive decay, producing bombs which release all the radioactive energy at once. Well's has stated recently that he believes that the development of such weapons "are inevitable, and will lead to the hopefully bloodless victory of the socialist World Federation.” Well’s close friend Eric Blair has stated that he finds such a weapon to be “truly interesting, and could lead to the success of world socialism.” Category:People Category:Europeans Category:British-related topics Category:Authors